UKC

I hiked and almost sh*t myself on the 3rd pinnacle of Crib Goch. Unfortunately I am going again this year with a few friends and wanted to know if there was a route around this rather than over it.

Try the A4086.. 👍 

From memory the sides are vertical so if going over is a problem, going around will be a bigger problem.

It's technically quite easy but if confidence is holding you back maybe build up some rock climbing experience so you can trust your hand hold and foot placements.

You may find it easier second time around. It's possible to scramble down on the Glaslyn side and traverse below the pinnacles. But you'd miss the point of being there really.

Please reflect on what you have written - while you still can. 

Mick 

As Birdie says you can drop down below it on the Glaslyn side; easier but quite loose. From the notch you can skirt up and around the right hand ( Llanberis Pass ) side. Quite short but exposed. This is well worn and can be very slippery if damp, the whole route can be nerve wracking when windy. Make sure you take into account the conditions before choosing your route for the day

     Perhaps try some less exposed scrambling with your friends as a warm up and to test their abilities / responses before going on Crib Goch.

If in doubt, just don't do it. Especially if your got a brigade of bubblies with you. Get yourself a bacon butty and a big brew in Pete's Eats instead. The quarries can be a fun and slightly safer meander instead. 

If I remember correctly the route round the west side of the 3rd pinnacle is the easiest way, on big foot ledges and adequate handholds. Very sound rock, straightforward in dry conditions. Other ways are more demanding. This is my mother on it in 1946, three years before I was born - picture taken by my grandfather. She is obviously finding the exposure harrowing - I don’t think she’d ever been on anything like it before, whereas her father was a keen mountaineer.

Good video of it here on YouTube:

youtube.com/watch?v=B7E_AJmnrtM&

What a great picture!

No just do it, it's not physically that difficult

No it's not that difficult.... but the consequences of a fall from the 'wrong' place are such that few will live to tell the tale.

RIP Pete's eats.

Good luck to the new owners, hope they make a success of the place.

But it's not going to be the old Pete's eats. Those day are long gone. It may reopen after a refurb, but I'm guessing more likely decaf oatmilk flat white and a glass of wine than a pint of tea. As for a bacon buttie? don't count on it ☹️

Gordon, what a super photo!

..Fantastic photo.

..and here is my daughter having just moved off the step your mum was standing on.

When I first read this thread I was thinking I've done Crib Goch quite a few times by now in both directions but had no idea where the "3rd Pinnacle" was - but having seen your picture and the one of Gordon's mum, I think it must be the pinnacle just above my son's head in the pic below? This was taken back at the start of March and was his first time going up Yr Wyddfa and his first time using crampons and an ice axe, so maybe we can start a thing of pictures of family members on or near the 3rd Pinnacle!

If that is the right place, I understand now the OP's worry more. It is quite an exposed spot, I thought about getting the rope out to safeguard my son up that bit he had a look at the first few moves and pronounced it easy and climbed easily to the top and easier ground. So Kabinski - have some faith, or take a bit of rope and send a mate up first! You've done it once and the holds are all there once you get going.

Ha - yes... I bet there are many, its a photo hotspot... as well as an accident blackspot unfortunately..

And when we had proper winters in North wales, it was easier to abb off that pinnacle!
https://youtu.be/GoJVCtiOwtM?si=riJAyzPYGwpUYSNW&t=360

A few years ago we did Crazy Pinnacle Face (Winter) (V 5) and we topped out on a pinnacle where we needed a short ab to get off. I don't think it was the third pinnacle, probably something you don't go over when just scrambling the ridge.

I’ve done Crib Goch Buttress climb (Reade’s Route), which finishes on the pinnacle you refer to, at least twice, it’s so good, though short-lived. About the same standard as Crackstone Rib. The second time was with Norman Croucher, seconding, with his two artificial legs. He found it desperately hard but managed it with a supreme effort and a very tight rope.